AI browser startup ego announced that its developer CGQAQ's contribution of the shape() function to Chromium has been merged into the main branch. Chrome 149 will roll out this feature globally next week. Developers can now use a single line of CSS to wrap text along arbitrary bezier curves, completely replacing the old JavaScript layout hacks.
Since the specification was written in 2014, the CSS property shape-outside has only supported five basic shapes like circles and ellipses for the past 11 years. Previously, if developers wanted text to follow a smooth bezier curve, they had to manually calculate 40+ polygon vertices for a rough simulation, or bring in third-party JS text engines like pretext.
This update lets the browser's rendering layer handle curve layout directly, eliminating the performance overhead of JS workarounds. To drive cross-platform compatibility, the ego team has submitted an Interop 2026 proposal, urging Safari and Firefox to follow suit.